C. Vivian Stringer is the head coach of the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights.
Although none of her teams have ever been able to grasp that final ring - that NCAA Women’s College Basketball Championship ring, Stringer has done something that no NCAA Division I college coach, on the men’s or women’s side, has ever done: led three different teams to the Final Four.
She achieved this with Rutgers in 2000 and 2007, the University of Iowa in 1993, and Cheyney State College (now Cheyney University of Pennsylvania) in 1982.
Stringer is also the third winningest coach in women’s basketball history, behind Tennessee’s Pat Summitt and former University of Texas coach Jody Conradt.
Her autobiography, Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph was published in 2008 by Crown Publishers.
In it she covers her fascinating and inspiring life, from the unexpected death of her husband from a heart attack, to the tragedy of her daughter Nina who suffered from spinal meningitis as a child and can now neither walk or talk, to the wounds left by radio “shock jock” Don Imus’ comments on her 2007 Rutgers team that lost in the final game to the Lady Vols.
The only flaw in the book is that there is no index.
Here’s the table of contents:
Introduction 1. Team Together 2. The C Stands For - Cheerleader? 3. You Come in Through the Front Door 4. I’ve Got My Glove Too 5. Finding a Way 6. To Rise and Give Hope 7. A Mother Knows 8. Time To Leave 9. You Can’t Go Home Again, but You Can Get Close 10. No Crumbs From the Table 11. Dig Deep 12. The Best of Times, the Worst of Times 13. Lost 14. Play Your Way Out 15. Do You Know Who We Are? 16. Team of Destiny 17. This is Who We Are Epilogue: We Stand
It’s a great book, and whether you’re interested in biographies of interesting people, or an inside view of the world of women’s college basketball, you’ll love this work.